Party Crashers
by Llwydyn
Summary: Skye and Hunter go undercover at a high-end ball. Dancing, snarky banter, and espionage ensue. And then a simple mission gets a little more complicated. Skye/Hunter (not established-relationship).
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Unlike some of my other pieces, this is NOT an established-relationship piece - just so there's no confusion. ;) It's set some time in the future after Bobbi breaks Hunter's heart and moves on to other things...

* * *

"Skye and Hunter, you're up."

Mack opened the back door of the limo, and Skye slipped out, followed closely by Hunter, who placed a familiar hand on the small of her back. When she bristled at the contact, he bumped her gently. "It's our cover," he murmured, smiling graciously at the other partygoers as they entered the building.

Skye relaxed. True enough.

They checked Hunter's jacket and Skye's shrug and followed the crowd into the ballroom, which was luxuriously arrayed in silk and white lights, ethereal and lush in its presentation. This was quite the soirée they were infiltrating.

Coulson's voice came over their comms. "No rush. Just blend in until you locate your target."

Hunter's eyes met Skye's. She arched a questioning eyebrow, mouthing, "Blend in?"

He steered her gently toward the dance floor, where couples were twirling to a waltz, and turned to her. "Shall we?" he inquired with affected politeness. She blinked and nodded. Hunter smirked and swept her into the dance.

Skye had to remember to close her mouth, which had dropped open.

"What?" he scoffed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Her eyes were wide. "You can dance."

"As can you," he observed mildly, nodding toward her feet.

Skye cleared her throat, settling into the rhythm of the waltz. "May's been teaching me," she explained. "Mostly I practice with Coulson."

Hunter's mouth twitched in an ironic smile.

"Shut up," Skye grumbled.

The music ended, and another piece began - this time, a big-band-style rhythm that was unfamiliar. Skye hesitated as Hunter motioned for them to continue. "I - I don't know this one."

"It's the foxtrot. Come on. I'll show you." He made a face at her skeptical look. "It's not hard."

He led her off to the edge of the floor and subtly walked her through the basics of the steps, guiding her with a hand on her waist, so that it looked as if she knew exactly what she was doing. Skye couldn't contain her wry grin.

"What?" he asked testily.

Her eyes were mischievous. "I just never had you pegged as the kind of guy who's into ballroom dancing."

He rolled his eyes. "What do you think I've been doing for the last ten years?" he complained. "I was running covert ops while you were still in high school."

"Yeah, well, I dropped out of high school, so I doubt that," Skye shot back, feeling ruffled.

Hunter was silenced for a moment, looking at her with surprise.

"You've got one hell of a skill set for someone who dropped out of high school," he observed, almost with admiration.

Skye grinned. "I'm a fast learner," she replied smugly. She indicated her feet, which were keeping perfect time with his.

He grinned back. She'd won that round.

Honestly, Skye found, it wasn't unpleasant swirling around the dance floor with Hunter. It was actually kind of enjoyable. He was a competent and courteous dance partner, more skillful than Coulson. And - not that a tux ever did a disservice to any man - he really did clean up nicely. She had to admit that he was pretty easy on the eyes. That, combined with the confident charm he exuded, had more than one woman eyeing her enviously.

If she didn't know him better, she might just be swept off her feet.

Which was probably why they always chose him for missions like this.

The song changed again to something slow, and Skye leaned in closer to murmur quietly into Hunter's ear. "I see our target. Your five o'clock."

"Thank you," he replied in a businesslike tone. He twirled her out, then back in, and Skye couldn't resist a little grin.

They danced the rest of the song and then parted ways, Hunter slipping over to the bar next to a gaudily attired heiress by the name of Penelope.

"Have we ever met?" Skye heard him in her ear, oozing charm. "I'm sure we haven't. I'd remember you."

Skye heard the heiress laugh giddily, and she rolled her eyes. Conquest number 375,832 for Lance Hunter. All the man had to do was wear a tux and open his mouth.

"Wasn't that your girlfriend you were dancing with?" the woman inquired.

"What, her? Nah," Hunter replied dismissively. "Just a colleague."

Skye suddenly felt an insane, completely irrational pang of jealousy. She squashed the ridiculous thought. Really - what the heck?

"It looked like she was into you," the heiress insisted teasingly.

Skye's ears were suddenly burning, and she hoped Hunter wasn't looking in her direction. Her, into Lance Hunter? Uh-uh. No way.

"Well, I'd prefer to get to know you a bit better," Hunter redirected smoothly.

Skye left them to it, Hunter's lines and the heiress' inane chatter still filling her right ear as she made her way across the ballroom toward the ladies' room.

Once inside, she shut herself into a stall and pulled the mini tablet out of her purse. Almost immediately, it began blinking an incoming transmission from Agent Lance Hunter.

_That was fast._

He was sending her the heiress' thumbprint and the DNA scan of a strand of her hair. Skye wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed to get that far in the forty-five seconds it had taken her to get to the bathroom.

And she was _definitely_ not jealous.

"Got it. Translating," she said quietly for the benefit of the comms.

Skye tapped through the process Fitz had shown her, encoding the information into a format she could send to Mack's device that would activate the biometric scanners on Penelope's Maserati. The heiress and her crooked father had apparently recently begun dabbling in the acquisition and resale of alien weaponry.

"Never a good idea," Skye muttered.

"What?" Mack's voice came over the comms.

"Nothing. Sending the file now."

"Copy that."

Skye made sure the transmission went through, then slipped the tablet back into her purse. She flushed the toilet in case anybody was listening, then went to wash her hands and lingered, touching up her makeup to kill time, until Mack reported that the necessary materials from the Maserati had been photographed and the tracker planted in the wheel well.

"We're done here," Coulson confirmed. "Field team, stay a little longer and then politely excuse yourselves."

"Copy that," Skye replied, brushing on another coat of mascara. She capped the mascara and studied herself in the mirror, smirking approvingly before tossing the mascara back into her bag.

She found Hunter sitting alone at the bar, nursing a Scotch. Skye felt a bit more pleased than she probably ought to at the fact that the heiress was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened to the blonde?"

Hunter grimaced in mock regret. "She abruptly found me too...forward."

"Imagine that."

Hunter's eyes twinkled at her over the rim of his glass. He set it down, empty. "I thought, given my options, I'd rather spend the rest of the evening with someone whose company doesn't grate on my every nerve."

Yeah, okay. Hunter _was_ kind of adorable. And the way her heart rate sped up when he winked at her like that didn't hurt one bit.

Skye tilted her head toward the dance floor. "Wanna dance?"

He grinned at her. "Thought you'd never ask."


	2. Chapter 2

They danced three songs - the last an energetic swing number that left Skye flushed and laughing, Hunter grinning at her. It was a pity they had to sneak out of this party early. It felt like a really, really great date.

It was _not_ a date. Skye snapped herself out of it. Sure, Hunter was charming - but he also flirted with everyone who had two X chromosomes and a pulse. This was no different.

As the next song started, she caught his eye and flicked her gaze toward the front door.

He sighed gustily. "Hi-ho, hi-ho..."

Skye smirked. "It could be worse," she teased him quietly. "We could be in the sewer."

He half-smiled. "True enough." He held out his arm for her to take. "Mack, bring the car around, if you would. We're out of here."

"You got it," they heard Mack reply.

Hunter glanced at Skye, then said lightly, "Next time you want to practice your ballroom dancing, come find me."

Skye glanced at him in surprise, but he was looking ahead, toward the foyer. She saw his forehead crease as they both abruptly became aware of a disturbance by the front door.

"Skye and Hunter," Coulson's voice crackled in their ears. "I just intercepted a transmission. It looks like the security guards have your faces. You're gonna have to find another way out. Mack, just pull straight through. We'll work out a rendezvous point."

"Copy that," Hunter murmured, smoothly turning them around to head the other direction.

They maneuvered through the crowds to a side hallway, then Hunter slid his arm down Skye's until their fingers were interlaced. "Look smitten," he whispered, backing down the hallway and pulling her with him.

Skye played along. It was easier than she wanted to admit.

Once they were away from the ballroom and its prying eyes, Skye dropped Hunter's hand and grabbed the tablet. She pulled up the schematics of the building to locate an alternate exit.

"I've got an emergency exit a few hallways away. Coulson, what do you see on your end?"

"It's not great. On the upside, I think we now know who their buyer is. On the downside, Hydra's there in a big way. One team by the front door, a few beginning to move into the stairwells from the exterior of the building. Outside, it looks like they're cordoning off a two-block radius. You're going to have to make good time. That back door still looks clear."

"How d'you know they're Hydra?" Hunter asked, brow furrowed.

"They have a penchant for plastering their logo on everything. Including the tops of their vehicles," Coulson observed.

"Unbelievable," Hunter remarked dryly, glancing down at the SHIELD logo on Skye's tablet.

Skye had her nose buried in the screen, checking out the rendezvous point Coulson had sent, as they came around the corner. So she was caught off guard when Hunter yelped, "Bloody-" and shoulder-checked her into a recessed doorway. She looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of the heiress standing in the hallway, leveling a gun at them.

Hunter squeezed into the doorway next to her as shots ricocheted down the hallway.

"You okay?" Skye whispered in alarm.

"Yeah. Seems there's just enough room for both of us." Hunter fumbled for his ICER, then released the safety.

This was really not the right time to be noticing the scent of his cologne. Which, by the way, was kind of intoxicating.

"Come on out, lover boy," the woman called down the hall. "I know you're SHIELD."

Hunter grimaced. "I hate it when a pick-up attempt goes south." He called back, "I should really be the one feeling jilted, sweetheart!"

The heiress chuckled ominously.

Hunter turned his head slightly toward Skye. "We're pinned. Got any quake-y tricks up your sleeve?"

Skye snapped back into focus. "Actually...yeah," she mumbled. "I think I can take care of that gun."

Skye closed her eyes and concentrated hard. A moment later, they heard a cry from Penelope and a thump as the gun hit the floor. Skye nodded to Hunter, who quickly leaned out from the doorway to ICE the heiress between the eyes.

Skye stashed the tablet and hiked up her dress to pull her own ICER from her thigh holster. Hunter, catching it out of the corner of his eye, bobbed his eyebrows at her in teasing approval. Skye shot him a dirty look, hiding the little flush of pleasure she felt at his attention.

"Come on," she said brusquely.

They approached the downed heiress cautiously, and Skye kicked the gun away from her before icing her again in the chest to make sure she stayed down a good, long time.

Hunter clucked his tongue. "Sorry, love," he said to the unconscious woman. "We had quite the thing going." He turned to Skye and tilted his head to indicate the next hallway. "Shall we?"

Skye nodded, picking up the gun and handing it to Hunter, who tucked it into the back of his trousers.

They covered each other through the hallways until they were a corridor away from the back door, when suddenly they heard a cry ring out from where they had left Penelope lying. Someone must have discovered her. They both stopped short.

"Crap," Skye muttered. "We're going to have company, and soon."

Hunter was quiet, thinking.

"Guys, you've got trouble," Coulson informed them. "Your exit's no longer clear. There's a Hydra tac team about to bust through it, coming your direction."

They were both standing out in the open, holding ICERs. For wanting to slip away secretly, this wasn't a good situation.

"I've got an idea," Hunter said quickly. "But you're gonna have to trust me."

Skye quirked an eyebrow suspiciously. "Okay?"

He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a corner, tucking her hand holding the ICER and his own ICER behind his back, which left Skye pressed against him. With his free hand, he pulled the pins out of her updo, loosening her hair to tumble down onto her shoulders.

Skye blinked. It was sinking in. The hair would hide his face as -

"I'm going to kiss you," he said matter-of-factly. "Don't hit me."

Skye nodded, stubbornly ignoring the little thrill that shot through her. For heaven's sake, this was a mission. They were trying to get out alive and undetected. That was all. What was she, a giddy schoolgirl?

Then Hunter's lips were on hers, his free hand cupping her cheek, and everything got a little fuzzy for a few minutes.

Skye was vaguely aware that the tac team had already stampeded past, and the kiss was becoming longer and more involved than necessary. She also knew that, on her part at least, it definitely didn't feel strictly professional.

"Back door's clear." Coulson's voice sounded in their ears, and they broke apart.

Hunter pulled Skye into an embrace to check the hallway over her shoulder. His whisper tickled her ear. "All clear. Ready to move?"

He seemed out of breath.

Skye nodded, clearing her throat. "Yeah," she murmured, cursing the way her voice was shaking.

Hunter was slower to loosen his grip on her than she expected. He pulled back without letting go entirely and studied her face, a questioning look in his eyes.

Skye suddenly felt very exposed. She met his gaze guardedly, aware of a new, painfully awkward but electric chemistry between them.

Experimentally, watching her reaction, Hunter bent in to bring his lips to hers again. Skye felt herself responding eagerly, her heart suddenly thudding in her ears.

This kiss was soft and brief. Hunter pulled back, with a faint, confident smile. "We should go," he said quietly.

Skye nodded, finding it difficult to formulate words.

"Mack, we're moving into the alley," Hunter informed him.

"Already in position," Mack's voice buzzed in their ears.

Hunter took Skye's hand in his, pulling her along as they reached the back door and slipped outside into the cool evening air.

Skye found herself confused as to whether the hand-holding was part of their cover or not.

* * *

**A/N:** One more chapter still to come! Watch for it in the next few days. For those following After You Change, I promise I'm still working on it. I just needed to write something sassy and fun for a little bit, plus get my Skye/Hunter groove back - since the story is about to take a turn in that direction. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The silence in the limo on the way back to the plane was strained. Skye had disentangled her fingers from Hunter's as soon as they got in, unsure whether it was just part of their act, and she was staring stubbornly out the window at the foggy streets. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened in there, nor what Hunter thought about it, but she hated feeling ridiculous, and at the moment, she felt a little bit ridiculous.

Hunter, for his part, was looking out the window on the other side of the limo, tapping the fingers of his left hand absently and glancing over at Skye frequently.

Mack, examining the two in the rear view mirror, noted the strange silence. "How'd it go in there?" he rumbled.

"Fine," Skye said shortly, at the same time that Hunter answered, "Pretty well."

A few beats later, Mack muttered, "Well, don't fall all over each other giving me the details."

Pink rose up in Skye's cheeks at Mack's choice of words, and Hunter noted the blush.

"It was uneventful," he volunteered. "Endured chatter from a well-bred, vapid blonde, copied her DNA, had a few dances, evaded Hydra."

"That part was eventful," Skye muttered.

Hunter glanced at her and said cautiously, "I thought it worked out all right."

The flush returned to Skye's cheeks with a vengeance, and she glared fiercely out the window.

Hunter pitied the passersby.

* * *

Skye refused to look at him the rest of the way back to the Playground, and all through the debriefing with Coulson. Apart from the moments where they completed one another's accounts of the evening, they didn't exchange a word.

Hunter, by this time, was completely exasperated.

They left Coulson's office and took a few steps down the hallway before he touched Skye's elbow and she whirled around, glaring at him defiantly. "What?" she snapped.

Hunter folded his arms and let it fly. "Can we stop dancing around what happened in there? I mean, if it was nothing, tell me it was nothing, and we're done here. Let's not get all passive-aggressive about it."

Skye stared him down, her eyes sparking fiercely. "I won't be one of your conquests," she spat out. "I'm not some ditzy heiress who's going to swoon at your pick-up lines."

Hunter's eyebrows shot up. "Is that what you think this is?" he asked, genuinely surprised. "Skye, forgive me, but - hell, no. You're not some ditzy 'conquest'. You're a strong, capable, brilliant woman who happens to look breathtaking in an evening gown. I'd try pick-up lines on you, but I don't think they'd work. But the looks you've been giving me tonight have me thinking that maybe I don't have to." He held her gaze steadily, taking a careful step closer.

The flush had risen in her cheeks again; he wasn't sure whether it was from embarrassment or because of his proximity. Or maybe a little bit of both. Sensing an opening, he continued quietly. "Think about it, Skye. In the year and a half you've known me, how many women, how many 'conquests', have you actually seen me with? Who weren't just part of the job?"

Skye thought for a minute. Just Bobbi, really.

_Huh._

Hunter saw the realization dawn in her face and nodded, lifting his eyebrows. "Some women, a man flirts with," he said frankly. "Only a few women are worth really pursuing something."

All the conviction faded from Skye's glare as she processed the implications of what he was saying.

He was genuinely _interested_ in her.

Skye broke eye contact, needing to look away for a moment, then returned her gaze to Hunter's face, blinking almost in confusion.

"So you tell me," he invited straightforwardly. "Did all of that tonight mean anything? If not, fine."

He paused, searching her eyes.

"But, if it did..." He trailed off meaningfully, and the candid look in his eyes was suddenly a little bit vulnerable. Skye felt her heart begin to pound in her ears again.

Her head was spinning. Somehow, over the course of the last three hours, her feelings toward him had completely shifted. And honestly, at the moment she really just wanted to kiss him again.

Impulsively, she closed the small gap between them and pressed her lips to his. Hunter returned the kiss enthusiastically, sliding one arm around her waist to pull her tightly against him and threading the fingers of his other hand up into her hair. After a moment, he broke off, gently bumping his forehead against hers.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say."

Skye felt her lips curve into a grin. This was crazy, but it felt awfully good. "This is gonna complicate things around here, you know."

Hunter grinned back. "Oh, I'm counting on it," he murmured, bending in to kiss her more thoroughly.

Yep. This definitely felt good.

A few minutes later, they separated, Hunter still holding her close with an arm around her waist. Skye twined her hands around his neck and smirked as a thought struck her. "Good to know I've spared myself the litany of pick-up lines."

Hunter winked cheekily. "Or you just volunteered to listen to me practice them all."

Skye rolled her eyes.

Still, she could think of worse ways to spend her time.

* * *

**A/N:** Short but sweet! :)

I always love to hear what my readers think! I had a ton of fun writing this, and it makes me happy to know when others have fun reading. :)


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